Community Catalysts
Cohort 5
Community Catalysts (ComCats) are a group of 20 faculty across the nation who help make the Engineering Unleashed community a thriving place.
You may have already seen a ComCat commenting on your cards or welcoming you to the community. ComCats review cards, provide feedback to authors, and connect faculty who are working on similar topics. They also serve as role models for community behavior, engage in forums, greet new users, and participate in card creation.
Connect with them in the forums or in a card discussion, and feel free to reach out with your questions and feedback!
Meet the ComCats
A. L. Ranen McLanahan
Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin - Platteville
Ranen started in industry on a floating factory ship. In 2014, he received the Arthur M. Kaplan Award for his teaching, outreach, and innovation. He offers professional training nation-wide.
Aaron Sakulich
Associate Professor, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Aaron's research focuses on developing more durable materials for use in infrastructure, which will lead to improved user safety and a reduced environmental impact.
Ajmal Khan
Assistant Professor, Ohio Northern University
Ajmal has incorporated EML into Electrical & Computer Engineering courses. His research successes include 26 refereed publications and published work in engineering education.
AnnMarie Thomas
Professor of Engineering and Entrepreneurship, University of St. Thomas
AnnMarie is the founder and director of the St. Thomas Playful Learning Lab. She authored "Making Makers: Kids, Tools, and the Future of Innovation."
Brooke Morin
Senior Lecturer, The Ohio State University
Brooke finds first-year engineering education particularly fulfilling as it allow her to help students find their identity as engineering students and sparks curiosity and creativity.
Chris Sharp
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, George Fox University
Chris enjoys pursuing character development, engineer identity, and creativity discovery with a design focus. He finds it fascinating when varying disciplines come together.
Jacqueline Gartner
Assistant Professor, Campbell University
Jacqueline helped commercialize miniaturized hands-on units for classroom use! She has numerous publications, including the International Journal of Engineering Education.
Jared Schoepf
Director of Operations of EPICS, Arizona State University
Jared developed a tiered approach to rapidly detect nanomaterials in the environment and consumer products. He has a passion for teaching and mentoring students.
Lawrence Funke
Assistant Professor, Ohio Northern University
Larry incorporates flipped delivery, active learning, and project/problem-based learning whenever possible. His interests include system modeling and mechatronics.
Margot Vigeant
Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bucknell University
Margot is Bucknell’s maker evangelist. She’s interested in how we can increase student engagement through active, collaborative, and problem-based learning approaches.
Nadya Shalamova
Associate Professor, Director of the User Experience and Communication Design Program, Milwaukee School of Engineering
Nadya is a "user experience" evangelist and champion for MSOE’s University Innovation Fellows. As a CREATE Faculty Fellow, she engages students in active, experiential and applied learning.
Stephanie Gillespie
Associate Dean, University of New Haven
Stephanie focuses on leading multiple first-year engineering courses as well as facilitating integration of the new maker space into faculty curriculum. She has experience in K-12 outreach.
Tammy Rice-Bailey
Associate Professor, Milwaukee School of Engineering
Tammy serves as member-at-large for the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC). Her research interests include remote workforces.
